When Is a Pringle ‘Wholesome?’ Kellogg’s Bets on Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

Kellogg Company is hoping consumers still get the once-you-pop-you-can’t-stop feeling from its new ‘wholesome’ take on Pringles. Dubbed Pringles Harvest Blends, the line will launch with two bases: multigrain and black bean (in Ranch and Cheddar Flavors) and sweet potato (in Sea Salt and BBQ flavors). Kellogg’s plans for the chips to be on store shelves this month. The debut comes as the strategic plans for the separation of its snack business into stand alone entity Kellanova and seeks to shore up its salty snack category sales success.

“With our new Pringles Harvest Blends collection, we’re ecstatic to bring our fans an elevated tasting experience — one that is both familiar with the bold flavors our fans know and love, and completely unique with its irresistibly crunchy texture and flavorful blends of sweet potato and multigrain,” Mauricio Jenkins, U.S. marketing lead for Pringles, said in a press release.

Though the Harvest Blends umbrella sub brand is new, Pringles launched multigrain chips over a decade ago under its then-owner Proctor and Gamble. According to a Kroger listing, both the older variety and the new formulation include corn flour, rice flour, malted barley and dried potatoes, but the Harvest Crisp product includes the addition of black bean grits and whole wheat flour. The end result though is a chip with a nutrition profile that remains nearly identical, with 10 calories and 2 grams of fat more.

Despite the better-for-you halo, don’t expect to see the products on the shelves of certain natural retailers: all four chips contain Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), an “unacceptable ingredient” for Whole Foods Market.

The move to launch (or perhaps, in some cases rebrand) the Harvest Blends chips line comes as better-for-you salty snacks have seen upward movement. Some brands are even crafting entire platforms around the concept, with Powered by Real Foods From the Ground Up not only selling its own veggie-forward products under its From the Ground Up and You Need This brands, but also acquiring Food Should Taste Good and Popchips. Meanwhile, The Good Crisp has launched an entire portfolio of better-for-you canister chips.

Still, bean-based salty snacks have had a harder path to financial success. In 2020 Beanitos was acquired by The Good Bean and last year Beanfields was sold to Boosh. Both of these transactions involved the acquirers not assuming either of the company’s debt and resulted in prior investors now owning shares in the acquirer’s respective companies.

For Kellogg’s, which acquired Pringles in 2012, honing its Kellanova strategy is a focus for 2023, with Pringles a key sales driver in its salty snacks business. On its first quarter earnings call in May, the company reported GAAP net sales increased 10% year-over-year and its snack segment reported 15% net sales growth over the prior quarter. Executives attributed both of the increases, at least in part, to the “sustained momentum” in snacks globally and noted that in the U.S. Pringles outpaced the double-digit overall growth in the salty snacks category.

Brands that currently make up the Kellanova mix account for over $11.5 billion in net sales, Kellogg’s CEO Steve Cahillane told analysts at the end of 2022 on a call about the business split, adding that separating snacks would allow for it to develop its own “distinct strategic priorities.”

“The rationale for this separation is very compelling,” he said. “Each of [these] companies is from day one a scaled business with strong brands and category shares, a solid supply chain and financial flexibility.”